Grieving Friendship
by Flipper Boid Skua
Summary: Who gave Gastly, Gengar, and Haunter their toys and stuff in Tower of Terror? Why isn't it mentioned? Why so desperate for a human friend when they have each other? What's their relation? Set before Ash and friends came. Haunter's POV... EDITED


Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Never had, never will.

EDIT: I been rereading some of my fanfics and I decided to add a bit more detail to this story and change a few minor things. Plus, Pretty soon, I'll most likely add another chapter. I love the Ghost trio so much, I feel they need more attention and a better written story. So please enjoy!

* * *

"Hello?" My ears perked up as I heard a voice call through the Pokemon Tower that we called home. I knew that voice well, as I've been anticipating it all day. She's back! That human girl is back! The human girl named Stacey. She always comes by to give us things and play with us, since nobody else would. I guess she understood that even scary Ghost-types like us needed some love and attention. And I was eternally grateful for that. Excited, I instantly floated up behind her, making myself invisible so I can take her by surprise. She shook her umbrella thing dry and removed her rain coat before setting it on the coat rack. I chose the right moment to become visible and tugged at the coat so that it would 'lunge' in her direction.

Just as I was hoping for, she snapped around at the sudden movement behind her, startled, and I couldn't help but laugh at her. Stuff like that never got old. Luckily, Stacey was a good sport and she sighed when she saw it was only me.

"Oh. Hi, Haunter. I'm glad to see you too."

She's the only human I know who isn't scared of me. Though scaring is tons of fun, having this brave human come by is even more fun!

First thing for hellos, I wanted to steal her coat. Snatching it, I happily flew towards the play room, but the jacket won't come with me through the wall. It just fell to the floor. What the... I returned and tried again, and again the stubborn thing won't come. I guess I shouldn't be surprised; stuff like this never works... Why do I keep forgetting that not everything can do what I can do? As if to rub it in, I heard our human friend laughing at me.

Pausing, I looked at her for a moment, wondering if the laugh is good-natured or not. Oh, who am I kidding? This is Stacey I'm talking about! I couldn't help but laughed too and appeared beside her, where she petted me and scratched the base of one of my ears. I loved it when she does that and I couldn't stop myself from purring as I leaned myself closer.

"Where's Gastly and Gengar?" she asked me. I didn't have to answer as my two brothers floated through a nearby wall. Stacey didn't hesitate and petted my younger brother Gastly with her other hand. My oldest brother Gengar greeted her the way he always does: giving a friendly whack on the head with his 'special' fan. He's had that fan for as long as I could remember, though his head-whacking habit only started when we first met Stacey a few years ago.

That too never got old and we laughed as she rubbed her head gingerly and gave us a playful glare. "Ow! I'll get you for that!"

We retreated as she chased us around, making Gengar her main target. For a moment, we stayed in grasping range, allowing her hands to pass through our bodies before we floated out of her reach entirely. Stacey tried to jump for us, but wasn't even close to reaching us. Of course, we cracked up as we find the limitations of humans to be quite funny. But soon enough, she appeared to get frustrated, crossing her arms with a pouting expression and turning her back on us. What she said next was downright horrifying:

"Fine. I guess I just have to go home and play with the new toys I got you all by myself."

We immediately stopped laughing, getting more than a little nervous. Would she really do that? She knew how much toys meant for us, especially if it came from such a great friend as her. Personally, I thought she was bluffing. Gengar must've thought the same, for he did nothing in response. Our youngest sibling, on the other claw...

"We're only playing." Gastly reasoned to her as he floated down, but for some odd reason, humans never seem to understand what we say...

"Gotcha!" she said as she suddenly turned and grabbed hold of Gastly. Even though Gengar and I suspected a bluff, we were rather surprised at the move; who knew humans can be so clever? But it was a fun prank and we all ended up laughing nonetheless. Gastly slipped through her hands, freeing himself, and flew around in delighted circles. Gengar and I joined him until Stacey spoke up. "Are you guys hungry?"

We nodded and my stomach immediately made clear how empty it was. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't eaten a thing all night. Speaking of which...

One thing important I want to point out. Haunters, like myself, are 'special' kinds of Pokemon. You see, soul-eating is a misconception in most Ghost Pokemon..._Most_. Haunters are one exception...the only exception as far as I know. And I won't lie, I've eaten a more than a few souls from humans and more than my fair share of Pokemon...delicious things...But that won't stop me from making friends...even if that friend is considered food...but it's tempting...especially when I'm hungry...

I won't eat this human though. If I do, we'll have nobody to play with and my older brother will not accept such a thing. I can only imagine what kind of punishment I'll be given; Big Bro'll probably Shadow Ball me into next week... Besides, it's not too bad a lost-opportunity; I can eat things other than souls and I'll be perfectly content.

My brothers and I hurried to the dining room with the big table. I'm not sure of the history of this place, but the items left behind probably meant a rich human lived here at one point. Meh, who cares? It's a nice home for us and that's really all that matters. Wanting food soon, I wasted little time floating above a chair and picking up a menu, looked through it. Peanut butter sandwich...mac and cheese...spaghetti...

Choices, choices...

"Hi, guys." our human friend greeted. Gengar got out his fan, but she beat him to it, her face serious. "Don't even think about it."

Slightly annoyed and grumbling a bit, Gengar put his fan away. Gastly and I laughed at him and sure enough, he couldn't resist laughing too. It soon calmed as Stacey got out a clipboard and removed a pen that was resting behind her ear. "Alright. I'll be you're waitress for tonight. May we start with drinks?"

Again, we laughed at her waitress act. It wouldn't surprise me if she actually did work as a waitress; I just hope she wasn't expecting any tips. Always taking turns on who got to order first, Gengar gave her his preferred choice of beverage.

"I want a milkshake. Chocolate." Understanding very well that the girl won't understand him, he pointed to it on the menu. Stacey leaned closer to take a look and wrote it down. "And while your at it, I want...a hamburger." He pointed at that too and again the human wrote it down.

"Thank you, Gengar." she said, ducking to dodge another one of Gengar's fan swats. Ah, her reflexes were improving... "I'll get you for that later." she muttered as Gengar pouted in his seat.

"I want to order next!" Gastly rushed with great enthusiasm. I chuckled at his childishness... but really, who am I to judge immaturity?

"Alright...since you seem to be ready, what do you want Gastly?" the human asked, walking over and ready to write.

"I forgot." my little brother told her, his confused and hopeless face getting the message across. Gengar and I cracked up and Stacey shook her head before turning her attention to me. Finally, my turn...

"How about you, Haunter?"

"Donuts!" I exclaimed as if it was the greatest thing in the world. Gastly and Gengar laughed at me as I continued to beam. Visibly confused at all this, Stacey looked at my menu and I pointed to my choice to make it clear. I couldn't tell if she was amused or annoyed. Probably both.

"Donuts? Maybe for dessert!" she told me, almost acting as a mother figure. Well, if that's the case, I'll play along with the role of the child; I want some donuts now! And I know exactly how to get them: I cried, the fake tears pouring from my eyes as I sobbed loudly. I only had to do this for a few seconds before she reponded. "Okay. Donuts it is. Just don't do that anymore. I hate it when you cry."

I perked up instantly, eyes dry and everything. "And that's why I do it." I told her, knowing she won't understand a single word.

"You want a drink too?" she asked. I shook my head in a negative. Drinks would just ruin the taste of my yummy donuts. She wrote down my order and looked at Gastly again.

"You ready now?" Gastly nodded confidently. "Okay. What do you want?"

"Food." he answered as vaguely as possible. This got another laugh out of Gengar and I, and apparently Stacey had some sense on what Gastly said. Now she looked less amused and more annoyed, as shown when she put her hands on her hips.

"Okay. You can starve." she said warningly. We immediately stopped laughing as this time, we all knew she was serious and Gastly cried for real. Unable to handle any tears from any of us, she lightened up and sighed. "Alright, one more chance. What's your order?"

Gastly sniffled for a moment before looking at his menu. Spotting something he wanted, his happy smile reappeared on his face and he mimicked my previous enthusiasm with his order as well: "Apple pie!" She looked at the menu and, acknowledging that my kid brother had no hands, I pointed to the picture of the pie. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine, whatever. I guess Gengar is the only mature one."

At that moment, Gengar decided to change his food order. "I want icecream."

He frantically pointed at the menu, jumping up and down a bit in his chair. Stacey sighed again. "Spoke too soon..."

After finishing up all our orders, she went off to prepare.

* * *

After dinner, we invited Stacey to stay longer so she can play with us in the game room. However, she turned it down, only giving us our toys. She gave Gengar a huge bouncy ball that he immediately set about standing and balancing on.

She fixed up a merry-go-round for me and taught us how to turn it on and off. I loved my gift and showed it by testing it out, grabbing Stacey's arm so she could join me. She cooperated for a few moments before she had to get off so she can build a nice swing set for Gastly. Little Bro was more than a little delighted and he flew about in circles before snuggling to Stacey, looking up at her with the big glittery eyes my brother sometimes get whenever he's incredibly grateful for something. The whole thing was a hoot to watch.

After everything was all set up, she tried to leave. _Tried._ We begged her to stay, crying all over the place as Gengar clung to one of her ankles, being dragged along laborously with each step the human took.

"I'm sorry, guys. But I can't stay. I have to get home before the storm gets worse and it gets too dark." she said as she leaned down to remove Gengar's grip. She walked out the door and shot us one of her sweet smiles. "Bye now..."

* * *

My brothers and I were excited. Our human's been on vacation the past couple of weeks and now she's going to come back again tonight. Before she left, she said she would bring us back some fun soveniers to help make up for lost Fun Time. Feeling the need to give her something in return, we went into giving her a welcome party, using some old party stuff we found left lying around. We had our little ball thing hung up in the dining room and it's filled with confetti and had a Welcome banner we made ourselves. We also put a "Pull this" sign on the string that would pop it open. We even cleaned up the place a little, putting extra effort in making the dining table all fancy. She'll love it!

We can't wait for her to arrive. She'll be so surprised!

* * *

"Breaking news." the TV human said, interrupting our favorite show. Gengar, Gastly, and I hesitated, wondering what must be so important as to interrupt our past-time. "There has been a murder case just recently. It involved this 19 year old girl." A picture of a human came up. Our eyes went wide and we frowned heavily. That human looked...

Gastly cried without another second's hesitation. "She's dead!" he yelled out. It took longer for Gengar and I to comprehend what just happened. It just couldn't be... This couldn't be real... The human on the TV continued, further confirming it to our minds.

"We believe it was a kidnapping attempt that happened on her way to what appeared to be Pokemon Tower. The man responsible managed to evade police. Here's a detailed drawing depicted by an eye-witness."

A picture of a human male showed up. He looked a lot older that our friend, with hair all around his mouth and a generally messy looking face. What was an old gizzard like him doing trying to take our Stacey? A few dreadful answers echoed through my head, each worst than the last. I grew more and more enraged and so was Gengar. Gastly was still crying over our friend's death.

"If you have any information, please take it to the local police department."

I didn't pay much attention to the rest; I didn't need to. I was too busy thinking of something else...something I never truely thought of before...

Revenge.

* * *

A week has past since Stacey's passing. Gastly was still very saddened by it and so were Gengar and I. We didn't do much; a smile couldn't even grace our mouths. Not even our hilarious favorite show could cheer us up. Even my ears seemed to be perpetually lowered. I went so far as to swear to myself that I will find the human responsible and make him pay. But Gengar refused to let me leave the tower to do such a thing. Not only would it be extremely difficult, but it won't be good for my brothers (especially Gastly) to lose another at a time like this. So my temptation for revenge won't happen anytime so.

But imagine my surprise when a human came inside our tower instead, looking out of breath, as if he ran a great distance. As he looked around, I kept myself invisible, wanting to see who our visitor is, but not wanting to give myself away quite yet. Other than Stacey, humans almost never visited and those who did, we enjoyed scaring them. Maybe this one will finally give us the joy we so desperately needed. But...

This particular human looked very familiar; I swear I've seen him before. Of course, it was that human I saw on the human news thing. Gritting my teeth, I couldn't stop myself from growling in a low tone of pure anger.

"Who's there?" the human shouted. I shut my mouth tight to muffle the sound and it seemed to work. "Must be hearing things."

He then laughed very loudly, the sound echoing throughout the tower. I didn't like it; take it from a Pokemon that loves laughter and practically lives to spread it. It took all my will power not to just launch a Night Shade attack at him.

"Stupid Officer Jenny will never find me in here." he muttered to himself. He began walking around our home, acting like he owned the place. I followed on undetected, allowing such arrogance for now. So this is the human that killed my friend. I couldn't keep back a scowl. He'll pay for what he did.

I chose the right moment to reveal myself, partially hidden in a shadowy corner. He snapped around at my movement and visibly jumped, obviously startled to see me. Under normal circumstances, I would've found that amusing. But not this time. I tried to smile in a friendly manner...hard thing to do when you have an intention like mine.

"Some kind of Ghost Pokemon, aren't ya? Ugly looking thing." he said in his thick, gruff voice. I could say the exact same thing for him. He's ugly on the inside and out. He killed my best friend...my only friend, besides my brothers, but they don't count. We've known Stacey for years...we had lots of fun times, most of which flashed into my mind like a dream. We pranked each other, we joked, she even sang for us. She sounded so pretty, her harmonious voice filling our ears so soothingly. Now he, this very human right in front of me, took her away.

My claws flinched and I calmly beckoned with my hand. I knew just what to do with the likes of him.

"Get! Scram!" he said. I wasn't going anywhere; I stayed put and continued to gesture him over, grinning widely as if I had a secret. But he refused to come over. Stupid human; didn't he know that he wasn't having a choice in this matter? I used Hypnosis, a blue glow filling the room from my eyes. It was too late for the human to look away and at last, he walked over.

My friendly smile turned into a more menacing smirk and I Licked his face...taking a piece of his soul with it. I normally take the whole thing on one Lick, but I want him to suffer, just as I know he that made my friend suffer as well. He began to shiver as I Licked him again, taking another piece of his hateful soul. The shivering got worse each time.

I lowered the hypnotic influence enough for him to suffer even more, but not enough for him to run away, if he can even accomplish such a thing now. He did, however, managed a scream. It only took one more Lick and he fell, paralyzed and convulsing on the floor. I glared at him, my smile disappearing all together.

"Why?" I heard him ask.

"You deserved it." I answered plain and simply, glowering over him. I knew he couldn't understand me, but I didn't care; nor did I care enough to finish the job. He can deal with his own death by himself... Gengar and Gastly appeared from nowhere beside me and stared wide-eyed at the situation. I looked at them and then at the shuddering human...They seemed to recognize him as well and sneered scornfully. We turned away and began to go towards the game room.

"Don't leave me...You can't do that..."

"Just watch us." Gengar growled before we went through the wall to a place of comfort.

We're not blaming this on all humans, as not all are evil. We already brought justice to the world and my brothers and I hold no grudges. We accept the fact we'll never see Stacey again... Her spirit isn't here to play with us... Guess she went to a more important place... It was incredibly sad, but now that the person responsible was dealt with, we can finally move on. Besides, I'm sure some other human will eventually come over and not fear us. Maybe he or she will play with us and we'll have more adventures.

Just have to wait...and hope.

Until then, we'll play with our most prized possessions: the gifts that Stacey so graciously gave us. And Gengar already decided that he will greet the next human to stand his or her ground with the tradition he made with our old friend.

Just hope he has his fan ready...

* * *

Insert Ash and Pikachu...

A little dark near the ending, but that's how most stories like this are. Please Review!


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